When Worlds Collide
by Writergirl118
Summary: What would happen if two "normal" teens end up in the world of Yu-gi-oh? This happens to fans Steph and Lily, and what they find is not at all what one might expect...OCx? (Complete)
1. Default Chapter

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Hey everybody, I'm kinda new to this, so cut me some slack, okay? I'm doing my 100 best to make this as good as possible. I really hope you like this story, and feedback is very much appreciated. Alrighty girls and boys, I'll cut the chit chat now and get on with it!

Chapter One: Shocked

"**Oh my gosh, I love this episode!" I squealed into the phone, staring at the TV screen with a glimmer in my eyes. My friend Steph and I were watching our beloved Yu-gi-oh together via the phone line, once again. Considering neither of us had seen the current episode, and it featured plenty of Joey and Seto Kaiba, we were both deliriously happy. **

"**Oh, Lily, you're being ridiculous. I mean, it's only Joey… he's not even real- Oh, it's Seto!"**

"**Now who's being silly?"**

**We both laughed and stared at the screens as Joey and Kaiba had a heated argument, resulting in one of our own (Joey would _so_ beat Kaiba up!). Suddenly, a loud crash erupted in the sky, sending me flying fearfully into the air.**

**On the other end of the phone line, Steph laughed at my timidity. I sighed and put my hand on the screen, feeling sad that my hand was touching only scattered light and color, not an actual form. I found myself wishing, not for the first time, that Joey was real. **

**Lighting pierced the sky again, scaring me, though not as much. I realized that my hand was resting on a TV screen and attempted to yank it away. Unfortunately, it was stuck fast.**

"**Uh, Steph… my hand is sort of stuck to the TV… I'm kinda freaking out over here."**

"**Why was your hand on the… The phone is stuck to me! I tried to move it off my ear and… it's not moving!"**

"**This is interesting…" I mused, finding the whole thing somewhat exciting, since nothing interesting ever really happened to me. **

"**Interesting! Lily, I am glued to a phone, and you're telling me it's INTERESTING?"**

"**Steph… I can see you on the scr-"**

**I screamed as I felt a strange tug and found myself in a place that was very certainly not my room. Steph looked over at me and we started laughing hysterically to keep ourselves from crying. **

End note: Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy! Also, note that, although this barely applies to this story, all Yu-gi-oh characters do not belong to me (I only wish…) and that these original characters are only loosely based on real people, and do not share anyone's name (on purpose, that is)


	2. Strange Encounters

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Well, here goes my best shot. Don't hate me if I make the characters a little different, I'm only a lowly writer, not the creator. Besides, they're more fun when you get to put your own spin on things. Feedback encouraged!

Chapter Two: Strange Encounters

"**Where are we, Steph?"**

"**Like I know… it looks almost like… no, that can't…"**

"**Oh my… is that…?"**

**Steph nodded weakly and we both continued to stare at the very tall building that we knew all to well from our beloved Saturday mornings.**

"**Alright… which one of us is dreaming?" I asked, looking at my friend hoping that she'd tell me it was indeed a dream. **

**Instead, she blinked dully at the tall Kaiba Corp. building in amazement. "Do you think we've lost our minds? Maybe we actually got hit by that lightning…"**

"**Who's on my property?" A cruel voice called out, causing Steph's eyes to glaze in a manner that could mean only one thing; Seto Kaiba.**

"**What are we supposed to say? Hi, we're nuts and think we are in the world of Yu-gi-oh?"**

"**You there, get over here and explain yourselves! I want a solid explanation or you'll be facing charges… You're only a couple of little girls… well, this is certainly very interesting, but you're wasting my time. Are you both so stupid that you can't even talk. Maybe you should go and find Wheeler… he's closer to your intelligence le-"**

"**I would appreciate it if you would not insult me or my friend. If you want to pick on someone, go find somebody who actually cares!"**

**I smiled despite myself. That was just like Steph… showing her love by treating him the same way he treats everyone… of course, she pretty much does the same thing if you aren't lucky enough to be her friend. **

"**Who do you think you are, talking to me like that? And you, the moron, quit smiling!"**

**That was the final straw for me, but I would never, ever yell at someone as menacing as Seto Kaiba. Instead, I glared coldly at him while waiting for Steph to defend me. Even Seto Kaiba was chilled by my stare… I could see it in his eyes, though he tried very hard to show no emotion.**

"**Do not insult me! And do NOT insult Lily… only I'm allowed to do that, got it? Who do YOU think YOU are?"**

"**_I _am Seto Kaiba, and this conversation is really wasting my time. What do you two geeks want?"**

**I fought off the urge to thank him for the "compliment", which was a long standing inside joke between Steph and I. Instead, I summoned my heartless voice.**

"**Perhaps we have decided to take a little walk, Mr. Kaiba. Do you… have… have… a… a …" My courage faltered and I looked pleadingly at Steph.**

"**She means, 'Do you have a problem with that?'."**

"**As a matter of fact, yes I do. You've wasted enough of my time. Guards, please get these idiots out of my sight!"**

**As the tall, suited strangers grabbed us, even my timid nature couldn't keep me from fighting back.**

"**Get your grimy hands off me, creep," I said in my signature deadly whisper. The guard just laughed in amusement as I struggled to break free.**

**Steph, however, being a tough girl, actually broke the grip of her attacker long enough to threaten her very first CEO. I'm sure she was very proud at that moment.**

"**You'll regret this, Seto Kaiba… I'll make sure of it!"**

"**And that comes from me, too! I will glare very threateningly from the sidelines while I watch her beat you to a-"**

**The guards pushed us out the gate and we realized that Kaiba had been gone for quite a while. **

"**I think that went well," Steph proclaimed. "He loves me already!"**

**I sighed and shook my head. Ahh, angry brave people, you gotta love em, I thought. **

End Note: Stay tuned dearies! Next, we find out what's going on… or maybe not… It depends on when I figure it out…


	3. Lil and Steph meet the crew

**When Worlds Collide **

Note: I do indeed hope that you are liking these little stories. Soon, the real action shall begin, and you shall see my skillful plot twists… or really, the fact that I have no idea myself what's coming next anyhow. Onward, my dears, to Joey!

Chapter Three: Lil and Steph meet the crew…

**I glanced at Steph, our humor long gone, replaced by shock and, in my case, fear. Where were we, why were we here, why was Kaiba here… were we really in Domino?**

"**I believe that something very, very special has happened to us, Lily." **

**I moaned inwardly, knowing that one of her allegedly deep speeches was coming. **

"**For some reason, a supernatural experience has been granted to us, the misfits of our world. I think that we are in another dimension. The Yu-gi-oh dimension."**

"**And I think you've lost it, but… if you have, so have I… I have no choice but to say that, for now, that is the only explanation. But we need shelter, no matter where we are or how we got here."**

"**You're right, Lily… we should go into town and find a hotel or something before it gets dark. And I bet someone wants to meet Joey," she mocked.**

"**So what? You've had your first fight with S-"**

"**That's Kaiba to you!"**

"**Kaiba. I can't believe it, but you have managed to skip both the introduction and the relationship and go straight to the first argument. Truly skillful, Steph."**

"**At least I talked to him, unlike yourself."**

"**You know I'm too shy, and angry, and… and… Oh, you just shut up."**

**We synonymously headed towards the center of Domino City, both secretly scared to death for different reasons.**

**Steph's dream had actually become a reality, but it was nothing like she'd hoped. Kaiba had no idea that they were soul mates; he just wanted to be his usual tortured self. Lily was lucky that she only crushed on the bad boys, not actually fell for them. Plus, until now, her feelings had been completely crazy. Now what?**

**And me? I knew that my expectations always exceeded what would really happen, and so I didn't want to meet Joey at all. But I knew that, more than anything, I needed a good, solid wake up call. Maybe that was the purpose for our arrival in this strange new place. **

"**Where do you get off pushin' Yugi around like that, huh? Think you can just treat my bud like that?"**

**My cheeks blazed red at the sound of that sweet voice. I really, really had to see his face. It had been almost a whole fifteen minutes since the last time.**

**He was standing heroically above two tough looking street kids who had some Duel Monsters cards in their hands, staring down at them in anger. He stuck out his hand.**

"**Well, you gonna hand 'em over?"**

**Beside his friend, little Yugi Moto was tugging on the taller boy's arm, clearly trying to make him stop. The two thugs showed no signs of handing over the cards. Instead, one of them stood up and rammed into Joey, hard.**

**A single muscle in my arm twitched and my fist had connected with bone before I had even registered the movements it must have taken to get me over there. I blushed deeply, gazing down at my baggy tee and jeans with slight sorrow. This was not exactly a good rival to the shows very showy outfits. **

"**Er, next time you want to pick on someone, um, don't?" I tried meekly, suddenly failing to latch on to my white-hot rage. **

**The guy, however, had finally had enough. "Here, here, they're just some stupid cards anyway. You and your little girlfriend lay off, punk." Then he and his buddy scrambled off, leaving a very confused 14 year old girl behind. Had I just punched someone?**

**Steph slapped me on the back and then stuck out her hand to Yugi and Joey. "I'm Steph, a new girl in this town. And this is-"**

"**I'm Lily. Um, sorry about your, like, honor, and stuff… I just… don't like bullies?"**

**They stared at us for several seconds, time in which my lovely cheeks turned an all new shade of red. **

"**Thanks for the help, Lily and Steph. I'm Yugi Moto. Do you need some help finding a place to stay?"**

**I made a lovely fool of myself by staring blankly at Joey for several more seconds before regaining my dignity. "That would be… nice?"**

**Oh, drat it, I thought sourly, I'm becoming an up talker. This is just my luck. **

"**Thank you very much, Yugi, and…" she carefully pretended not to know who Joey was, a very smart move indeed. I had managed to firmly freak them out already, so she needn't help. **

"**Oh yeah, sorry, I dazed off…"Joey said. I sarcastically thought that he had most likely been daydreaming about a giant donut. "My name's Joey Wheeler."**

**I smiled meekly, staring at Steph for the next move. I was firmly star struck, and there were two guys in front of me. Not good odds for actual conversation from my end of the deal. **

"**There's a hotel down the street. We can show you if you want."**

**I nodded and Steph smiled her dangerous smile, which Yugi took as friendly, and Joey clearly thought was just plain creepy.**

"**And a mall of some sort would be good," I muttered. "We, uh, well," I pointed meaningfully at my outfit, and Yugi, at least, seemed to get it.**

"**Sure, follow us!"**

End note: Okay, maybe the plot is still on the rise… I promise that the next chapter shall feature much more interesting events. Right now we're still getting introduced to the key components of this lovely tale. Please remember that Yu-gi-oh's lovely characters places, and all events other than my own personal plot do not, and never will, belong to me. Wouldn't want you giving me too much credit, even though I know you won't… Stay tuned.


	4. The rising action

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Well, there really is very little that one can say at this point in time. So far, I am enjoying myself by writing these stories, and it is my honest hope that you, the reader, enjoys the end result of my work. I love the way this is turning out; it's very different from things I've written in the past. Enjoy!

Chapter Four: The Rising Action

**The hotel was a pretty sort of building, but our room was simply too high for my liking. It gave me that unpleasant falling sensation whenever I walked towards the window. **

"**Well, guys, here you go. The mall's just down the street, it's impossible to miss. We have to go now, Grandpa will be worried."**

**I stared at Yugi, my brain pretty much going into shock. Yugi Moto was telling us where the mall was. It doesn't get much weirder than that.**

**Joey had said very little in the time that we walked to the hotel. I'm pretty sure that I had him firmly freaked out by everything that had anything to do with me. **

"**Yeah… bye."**

**I sighed as soon as the door was shut. "How much do you think he hates me?" I asked Steph, feeling very let down. **

"**Only a little bit. Come on, it's only our first day here, Lily, and we have yet to enjoy this strange twist of fate. I say, can you believe it, that we should go to the mall, and, dare I speak the words, look at… clothes."**

**We gasped in unison, although it was only fun. Yesterday, I'd have said that Steph saying those words was the weirdest thing that could ever happen. Now, however, that was a silly thing to say. My gosh, we were in the world of Yu-gi-oh, not sitting in the floor of my room dueling. This was scarcely a time to worry about keeping ourselves firmly girl power. This was a time… to enjoy ourselves and act in a manner in which I had never acted before: Confident.**

"**To the mall, then."**

"**Yes," Steph whispered, as if unsure of herself. "To the mall."**

**It was then that I felt as if my world had been flipped upside down. Steph never, ever, was unsure about anything. But, being fashionable was something generally new to the both of us, but most especially her. I had always liked the idea of looking beautiful, but I was rather weak stomached to endure the usual discomfort. Being showy made me very, very nervous.**

**It was… odd. Nearly the whole place was unlike anything I'd ever seen. However, as I saw the clothes in the windows, I brightened up. This was a world that did not feature pastel pink and orange as main colors of the universe. There were a lot of much loved purples and blues.**

"**Ugh," Steph muttered. "Look at all the skirts."**

"**Oh, Steph, come on. Try some on with me, just to be silly. Besides, who have you seen here that isn't wearing one?"**

**I expected an argument. In fact, I prepared a good response in my mind. "You're right, Lily. This isn't like home… this is different. To be a single minded, kick butt girl here, you don't really have to be wearing pants instead of skirts."**

**I rushed into a nearby store and closely examined a size 12 knee length in the very hip color of sky blue. It was wavy and delicate, simply perfect for one of my beach moods. **

**Steph slowly followed me, looking uncomfortable around all the skirts and flashy tees. To me, this was a dream come true, but what was it to her?**

"**Well…" I held the skirt up to my waist, attempting to get a feel for the all over look of the thing.**

"**It's… girly."**

"**No," I proclaimed, picking up a very short, frilly skirt. "This… is girly."**

**She laughed and edged close to a punk-looking dark blue shirt. It featured several silver chains about it and reminded me somehow of Marik. I liked it, for her, but never myself. **

"**Nice! Try it on with… this!"**

**I had found the perfect thing for Steph. It was a long, strait black skirt with a very edgy appearance. It was slit down both sides in that tie-up way, and had a very, well, dangerous looking belt attached. It very much reflected Steph, in a weird, only my thoughts sort of way. **

**I glanced around casually, half waiting for Steph to return from the dressing room. And then I saw two very, very strange things. One of them was an amazing jean skirt with several fade marks and the other… was Mai Valentine. **

End note: Please forgive my terrible fashion sense and very bad description of the outfits. I clearly can use any possible help in making them more… attractive. Any help will be very, very appreciated. Thanks!


	5. Valentine means nightmare

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Well, I hope I haven't bored you to death with this rising action bit… It shall become more interesting, I promise. Here goes everything;

Chapter Five: Valentine means nightmare

**I stared at her in discontent as she ran her fingers over a shirt appraisingly. I hadn't ever really hated the woman, even though Joey clearly liked her, but seeing her now made my skin crawl. I'd always been like that, easily dismissing people when they had a bad, well, feel, about them. This was one of those times.**

"**What are you staring at, girly?"**

"**Nothing, obviously. If I was staring at you, my glasses would've broken."**

"**You aren't wearing glasses."**

**I grabbed wrenchingly for the lenses that had given me sight, to discover that they indeed weren't present. How could I see if they weren't there?**

"**Um, right… you know what I meant."**

**I reached out again, testing to see if they were really, really gone. I could see without them! I had to call that a pleasant side-effect of being in this weirdo place. **

"**Hey, Lily, I feel ridiculous over here, care to came and take a look?"**

"**Coming."**

**I dashed off, trying to get my self as far away from Miss Valentine as I could. Steph was standing like a stick person in her new attire, but she looked beautiful. I gave her a thumbs up.**

"**Steph, why didn't you tell me that my glasses were gone?"**

"**I figured you knew. Didn't you wonder why you couldn't see?"**

"**I can see! Isn't it amazing?"**

"**I guess… could you hurry and try that on? I'm going to, reluctantly, look at a few more things, since we do need blend-in clothes. Just call me over when you're ready."**

"**Wait, Steph, Mai's out there."**

"**Mai Valentine?"**

**I nodded. "So far, I've made her think I'm a crazy girl who is under the impression that she wears glasses."**

"**Nice job. I'll try not to kill her, I know you want to do it."**

**I sighed and waved her away, disappearing into the stall to try on an outfit or two. First, I slipped on the skirt, shocked when it fell back to the ground. I double checked that the tag was, in fact, a size 12. It was. For several moments, I stared at the skirt before re-dressing and going out to find different clothes. Clearly, I had changed appearances. **

"**Steph, have you tried a mirror lately? I have the strangest feelings that both of us look different."**

**"What? If we looked any different, the other would notice."**

**"I'm not so sure, Steph. You hardly noticed my glasses, and this skirt is a size 12."**

**"So?"**

**"So that's my size, and now it's too big."**

**"Congrats, Lil, but really, I don't think..."**

**"Well, now, this is a very interesting conversation. What are you people, because you obviously aren't from around here. I don't like the abnormal, and I want an explaination."**

**"Um, we're from... Canada! Things here are somewhat odd for us..."**

**"I heard you say that you looked different. What could cause that, hmm?"**

**"Your American mirrors," Steph declared, finding her slight accent from who knows where to be of use to us. "They are most strange."**

**Mai shook her head, clearly thinking we were both out of our minds, and left the store. I grabbed some clothes, determined my new size as 9, and bought enough to rotate through two week cycles. Steph did the same. Neither of us yet had the courage to look in the mirror. **

End note: Hope you liked it! I expect to update as soon as possible, and I still am open to whatever critique you find fitting. Just don't be too mean, or I might kill off one of my characters in rage. Stay tuned!


	6. Mirror Image

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Here's chapter six, I hope you enjoy it. (not much to say, so will shut up now.)

Chapter Six: Mirror Image

**I glanced at Steph, still feeling utterly ridiculous but still afraid of what might happen. We had been sitting outside the bathroom for about an hour trying to work up the courage to look in the mirror. I didn't know about her, but I was firmly afraid of change and wanted no part whatsoever in it. However, and hour that could be much better spent was simply too long to sit outside a door, cowering in fear of a shiny piece of glass.**

**I stood up and walked in, staring directly at the mirror. **

**I was very relieved to see that the face in the mirror had undergone little change. My hair was a little longer, fuller, and all around more amazing, and my acne had miraculously cleared (a pleasant side-effect if I do say so myself) but I was still just Lily. I sighed and looked to see Steph staring intently at her reflection.**

"**Do my eyes look bigger to you? I don't really look in the mirror much, so I can't really tell if anything has changed or not…"**

"**You're fine, Steph. We should chill out and do something, hmm, not so darn boring for once. Look where we are, Steph, we should not be this bore-"**

**The phone rang and we both jumped as if being attacked by an unknown wild animal. Feeling silly, I picked it up.**

"**I know who you are, Lily, and nothing will stop me from having what you possess. Tell your friend Steph that as well." **

**After several seconds of annoying maniacal laughter form the man, I hung up the phone. **

"**Who was it?"**

"**Some nutcase who says nothing will stop him from having what we possess or some nonsense. Probably a prank phone call or-"**

"**What do we have of interest anyway?" She interrupted. "We aren't from here, we aren't magical and we don't have anything of substantial value in money either."**

"**Well… how do we really know that? Things here are different… for all we know; we _do_ have some kind of freaky powers."**

"**You did knock that guy out with surprising force."**

"**Girl, that isn't power, that's years of softball at work."**

"**True. Oh well, let him try to go through me! He'll be sorry that he ever crossed-"**

"**I'd hate to interrupt your lovely speech, but I think we have a visitor." I pointed to the window, through which a ninja had just climbed. **

"**Oh, I suppose you're-"**

**The ninja sent a solid kick into her stomach, making me decently angry. It was probably somewhat stupid, but I gave him my best kick, aiming for a certain special area which resulting in the doubling over and grunting in pain of the ninja. I smirked and helped Steph up.**

"**Well, buddy, I think you have the wrong room."**

"**That is incorrect. I see them hovering above you now. Either surrender them to us, or die!"**

"**How about the hidden third option," I said, kicking him hard straight out the window. **

**Steph high-fived me and then we mutually decided to grad all of out things and run for the game shop. After all, there's nothing better than having an ancient pharaoh and a cute blonde guy to protect you from evil ninjas and insane laughing men. **

"**You were attacked by… a ninja?" Joey asked, looking at me as if I was completely insane, which, indecently, I was beginning to wonder myself.**

"**Yes, we were. Honestly, you can ask her," I said, jabbing my thumb towards Steph, who had made a slightly better first impression. **

"**It is true, crazy as it sounds."**

"**And you got a phone call from a crazy guy who laughed maniacally?"**

**I nodded, hoping that they would not only believe us but see fit to protect us as well. **

"**Hey… dat sounds like…"**

"**Marik," the two of them said aloud, and my mind as well screamed. **

**Only, I was firmly of the belief that his evil side had been quite banished; it was anti-climactic for him to return. Of course, little did I know that our arrival had sent the plan for Yu-gi-oh spiraling out of the producers control, although the world we were in was the real Yu-gi-oh world, and not the TV show, it still had some… interesting side-effects on the guy who has dreams that connected him to what went on here, although he was blissfully unaware of it, poor guy. **

**We made a show of looking confused for them, although I didn't think the effort was much needed for Joey, who was fuming at the very mention of the guy. **

"**It's a long story," Yugi said. "But we though his, err, evil side was gone… only, this sounds too much like him to be ignored."**

**We still pretended to be clueless, even though I felt sorry for poor Yugi, having to explain this. After all, even as an avid watcher of the show, I barely understood it. **

"**He's just a bad, bad guy who's done a lot of evil things. I tried to get revenge on him fir what he did ta' Mai…" Here, I cringed, causing a very interesting expression on his face. "You've met Mai?"  
**

"**Oh, yes, we've met… go on, please."**

"**But in da end, it was Yuge dat took care of him. At least I was dere to see it, though."**

**My cheeks must've looked like little red flags as I remembered my anger at the producers when Joey lost that duel… but I supposed it was really Marik I should hate, and promptly felt angry at his evil side.**

"**What would he want with us, though?" Steph asked innocently. **

"**I don't know," Yugi said, "but I guess we'll just have to find out. For now, you can stay here… hopefully he won't be able to find you."**

**Meanwhile in the Shadow Realm: **

"**Curse it, I still can't read her mind… but I will find her, and I will find her friend as well. Perhaps Wheeler can be of some use to me… unless she finds out how to protect him…"**

End note: Cliffhanger! Don't be too angry, I ran out of ideas… will try to come up with something as soon as possible. Stay tuned!


	7. A Series of Unfortunate Events

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: I have just had a brilliant (and evil) idea for this story, and therefore felt the need to rush to it before losing the courage to do such things. Here it is:

Disclaimer: I own neither Yu-gi-oh nor its characters, cards or events, or the Series of Unfortunate Events (title used below). I humbly accept recognition for Steph, Lily and the zany events that the creators are too sane to come up with. Now on with it:

Chapter Seven: A Series of Unfortunate Events

"**So, now what are we going to do?" I asked Yugi, growing bored with inwardly plotting ways to push Mai off a series of different high locations.**

"**Do you two know how to duel?"**

"**Know how?" Steph exclaimed in astonishment. "I've defeated Lily dozens of times and am searching for a more worthy opponent… Ouch, Lil, you don't have to hit me so hard… You two duel?"**

**I sighed and poked her again for emphasis, listening vaguely to what Yugi's reply was.**

"**Then let's have a small tournament, okay?" **

**We nod in mutual agreement and toss a coin to see who'll face who in the first round. The match up is; 1st duel, Joey vs. Steph and 2nd duel, Me vs. Yugi. I settle into a chair to watch Steph no doubt cream Joey with her deadly Guardian Sphinx. **

**Steph, going first, placed two magic cards face down (I dimly note that one of them is likely the Flute of Summoning Dragons.) and placed one monster in face-down defense mode.**

**As is often the case, I paid little attention to the following duel and only to Joey (who, by the way, played Scapegoat at some point, making me very happy as I also save myself from Steph's wrath with that card.) Steph, however, did not draw her Guardian Sphinx and was defeated by Joey's Red Eyes Black Dragon (making me even happier as I too have that card as well.)**

**Smiling, I took Joey's former seat, and prepare to lose to Yugi. After all, I think, he is the king of games. How can I beat that?**

"**You can go first, Lily," Yugi said, and I was relieved to see no sign of Yami, who was clearly not necessary for the duel at hand.**

"**Alright, if you insist on bringing about your immediate demise," I said, forgetting that I wasn't dueling Steph, and that I should therefore be shy and silent. Then I remembered, blushed and drew a card.**

**Inwardly exclaiming in joy, I placed Wingweaver among the other cards in my hand and put Scapegoat and Malevolent Nuzzler face down, just in case. Then I looked over my monsters and randomly chose to put Mystical Elf in defense mode.**

"**Your move, Yugi," I muttered, lost in that part of my mind that comes up with strategy. **

**Yugi summoned X-head Cannon and placed a card face down. "Attack her face down monster, X-head Cannon," he exclaimed with slightly too much enthusiasm. I smirked and revealed my Mystical Elf, and Steph subtracted the necessary amount of life points on the piece of paper we were using to keep score. **

**Yugi shrugged. "Your move."**

**I drew a card and glanced at it with a mild amount of interest. It was Cure Mermaid, a useful card, true, but not a very good for the current situation. After playing Spirit of the Harp in face-down defensive mode, I leaned back to let Yugi make his move.**

………………………………………………………………………………………………

**A half hour later, after many twisting events that I won't bore you with, we came to a showdown between my Dark Magician Girl and Yugi's Dark Magician. Of course, girl power (and a few equip cards, such as Malevolent Nuzzler) prevailed and I, astonishingly, won the duel. **

**Steph stared at me wide eyed, as did Joey, who had clearly dosed off at some point (he woke to ask which of us had stolen his giant donut) until Yugi broke the silence.**

"**Then I guess it's a duel between Joey and Lily."**

**I stared at Joey, unsure of what I should say, and then collected my cards, forming them back into a deck.**

"**Shall we duel, then, Joey?" I asked, trying not to blush, an effort which was highly in vain. **

"**Yeah, I guess so. I'll do ya a favor and only cream ya by a little since you's a girl an' all."**

**I glared as venomously as I possibly could at Joey for making such a comment, and handed him my cards to shuffle.**

"**We'll see who goes easy on who, Joey, we shall see…" After grimacing slightly at my own grammatical error, I accepted his cards and relished the opportunity to touch them and not look insane. While giving them a very thorough shuffle, I thought back on Joey's past duels and started plotting a rough strategy.**

"**Dat's enough of dat, now let's duel," Joey said, earning a blush from me. **

**Narrowing my focus to winning the duel, I drew my hand of five cards and allowed Joey to make the first move, accepting no chivalry this time. **

"**Alrigh," He said, looking over his hand one last time, "I play Panthuh Warrior in attack mode, and dat's all for dis turn."**

**I shivered slightly from the sound of his voice and looked over my hand carefully. Panther Warrior, hmm, I thought. My eyes then fell upon Harpie Lady and my beloved Malevolent Nuzzler equip card, and I knew what must be done.**

"**I play the Harpie Lady in attack mode and equip her with Malevolent Nuzzler. Attack," I muttered with nervous enthusiasm.**

"**Aww, man, how can dat little bird crush my big ole Panthuh Warrior," Joey moaned, earning a broad grin from me.**

"**Easy," I whispered in my best confident voice, "she's a girl and your Panther isn't."**

**Joey stared at me, clearly dumbstruck, which was not really all that surprising. And then I detected the tiniest shred of respect slip into his gaze, making me blush even more deeply. **

**I smiled slightly and waited for Joey to make his move. **

……………………………………………………………………………………………

**A while later, things were not looking good for Joey. He had 100 life points left and no monsters on the field. I sighed and contemplated the manner in which I would beat him. I could either use my Wingweaver or my Water Omotics to take care of his life points. **

"**I'll attack with Water Omotics," I muttered, still somewhat lost in thought and still too shy to talk directly to Joey.**

"**Not so fast," Joey declared, "I play Scapegoat to stop your monstuh's attack and den I use Eternal Rest to destroy dem both!"**

**Oh crap, I thought, looking sadly at the cards equipped to both of my monsters. Since Eternal Rest destroys all monsters equipped with equip cards, that was the end for me. **

"**Nice move, Joey," Yugi said from the sidelines. **

"**It was," I confirmed, still trying to find a way to save myself. At least he had yet to summon a monster. "Your turn, then."**

**He drew a card and smiled, which I had to assume was bad news for me. "I play Axe Raider in attack mode and dat takes care of your life points."**

**I sat there in a decently amazed manner, staring numbly at Joey, who had just dueled me. It seemed to really sink in at that moment where I was and who I was only inches away from.**

"**Wow," I whispered. "That was… the most unsuspected comeback I've ever seen, and I write suspense novels."**

"**Eh, it was notin."**

"**Of course not."**

**I laughed meekly and glanced at Steph, who winked at me. "And now, it's time to award our champion," she proclaimed, showing us a trophy that she must have slipped out to buy at some point. That was very much not like her, so I knew she was likely to be up to something, but maybe I was just being my usual paranoid self. **

**She handed Joey the trophy and to my amazement gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He just sort of stared at her, to my immense relief. But that certainly didn't mean she wasn't really gonna get it the minute she found herself alone with me.**

**The door flew open and I instantly knew what had just happened, because in stepped the one and only Seto Kaiba. I gave Steph a piercing look that said, 'That was low, girl, even for you.' She shrugged and put on her angry glare.**

"**What do you want?" We both said in different types of rage, and were joined by Joey only a slip second later.**

"**I heard that Yugi's grandfather was planning on hosting a tournament here, and I plan to be the winner."**

**We all looked at Yugi, who blushed and put his hand behind his head. "Did I forget to mention that? Yeah, he is, but it's only a small one. He's letting me invite my friends and handing out a few invitations himself. Did he invite you Kaiba?"**

"**Of course he did," Kaiba snapped. "You can't host a tournament without inviting at least one good duelist.**

**I glared at him in cold-hearted cruelty. "Oh, so I suppose you revoked the invitation so he could give it to a real duelist?"**

**That may have been a slightly stupid thing to say, as I now had to deal with the wrath of two people who could easily beat me into the ground. I didn't know what had come over me, the shy one, that made me actually act on my anger, but there was no turning back now. **

"**Ha ha. I fail to see how that's funny. In fact, I hope _you _aren't coming, or there will be no real challenge."**

"**Actually, Kaiba, Lily beat me in a duel, so you could say that she's the one you'll have to beat to reclaim your title."**

"**What? You lost to this… this sad excuse for a duelist? She isn't even third rate!"**

**I pointed at Joey, hoping to bring the attention off myself. "But _he _beat me, so technically-"**

"**Naw, Lily, dat was just luck. You woulda won if I hadn't drawn dat Axe Raider, 'cause I didn't have any monstuhs in my hand."**

"**You beat me, Joey. You-"**

"**This is a waste of my time. I'll just beat you all."**

"**Fat chance, Kaiba, since you'll be knocked out easily by _me_," Steph threatened, obviously not happy to have Kaiba paying more attention to me and Joey than to her. **

"**I don't have time for this," Kaiba said. "I'm just here to register and then I have to run a company that's worth more than all of you combined."**

**I nearly lost it there, and probably would've punched him if Joey hadn't beaten me to it. Instead, to my dismay, I had to be a peacemaker and pull the boys apart to prevent the inevitable hurting of Joey's face. **

"**Stop it Kaiba! Don't punch- Oh, too late… NO Joey, don't- too late again. Oh this is silly," I yelled, grabbing Kaiba's shirt and pulling him away from Joey, who was being pulled by the combined efforts of Steph and Yugi. I'm not going to boast and say that I could've taken Kaiba any day, because I very well could not. Instead, I did the one thing I'm good at; I put words to work where little else would help me.**

"**Kaiba, do you really want to waste your precious time on beating up Joey? Don't you have a company to run?"**

"**I hate to admit it, but you are mostly right. This is a waste. Where's the old man already?"**

"**Looking for me, Mr. Kaiba?"**

"**Yes, I'm accepting your invitation. Now I've got more important things to do than hang around with you losers."**

**I glared after him, but knew better than to start a fight with the leader of a company that employed very menacing guards. I felt a glare on myself and knew that Steph was going to be mad that I'd argued with Kaiba more than she had. **

"**We'll talk later, Steph, okay?"**

"**Hey, I didn't say anything, Lil."**

**I shrugged and glanced at Joey, whose lip was bleeding. **

"**Joey, your lip… it's bleeding. Yugi, we need a wet washcloth or something like that for him to hold up to it."**

**As Yugi scrambled off to find a washcloth I pulled a tissue out of my purse, which I had luckily been touching at the time of our little trip into… well, wherever we were. **

"**Here, use this until he gets back," I mumbled, holding it out to Joey while trying to conceal the picture of him that was always in there.**

"**Eh, t'anks and all, for da save back dere," He managed from behind the tissue.**

"**It was nothing, Joey, nothing at all," I said in that far off tone I used when my mind was wrestling with a mystery.**

"**What is it?" Steph, who would know that sound anywhere, asked.**

"**I talked… to a person that I should be scared to death of… and you…_ flirted_ with a guy you don't even like… and the ninja said…"**

"**He said 'I see them hovering above you even now'. Can that mean… we have somehow attracted the attention of-"**

"**Some type of spirits," I finished for her.**

"**Exactly, and they clearly are spirits of the traits you and I lack most."**

"**Yeah, bravery for me and… girly sweetness for you."**

**Joey stared at both of us like we were nuts, but Yugi, who was back with a washcloth, nodded in agreement. **

"**That makes sense," he said thoughtfully, "Since you said that Lily is really shy, but she sure seems ready to pick a fight with Kaiba… and you know Joey, it could be that they have some type of, you know."**

**For a second, it looked like Joey didn't get it, but then he nodded. "I don' know, Yuge, they don look like dose kinda people."**

"**There's a kind of people?"**

"**Well, ya know Yuge, big hair and some kinda freaky gold item… it's always gold, isn' it?"**

**We stared at them, both finding it hard to pretend we didn't know what they were talking about.**

"**You wouldn't happen to be talking about the Millennium Items, would you?" I said, coming up with a lie to explain my knowledge.**

"**Yeah, how do you know about them?"**

"**I'm not a complete idiot, Yugi, I have expanded beyond the knowledge I get from reading out of date Historical fiction," I said. "And I watch the history channel and go to the museum." **

"**Oh." **

**I smiled and then shook my head. "I think we'd have noticed by now if we had any magical items, Yugi. After all, this has just started happening since we came here."**

"**It was worth a try."**

**I sighed and looked over at Steph, who had been uncharacteristically silent. Her eyes had this dreadful, faraway appearance as if something was making her very upset. **

"**Steph? What is it?"**

**She looked at me mournfully and without words I knew. Something had reminded her of home, of sitting and wishing that we could be in the place we were in right at that moment, but it was a broken dream now. For dreams like this are meant to stay as dreams so that they could keep us going then, as something that was happy to dwell on. This was not what we had expected; not what we had both dreamed of for so long, but just another place in the world where we two loners could not find what we most needed; someone who could love us for who we were. **

"**Joey, Yugi, I think that we need to be alone for a little while. Please go somewhere else so that we may talk in private."**

**Of all the things I had imagined I would say to Joey, go away had never been one of them. But there I was, and there he went. I knew how Steph was feeling, because I felt it too.**

"**I know, Steph. It hurts me too. I miss my home, and I miss the fantasy of what we wanted to have happen. Only here we are… and it just isn't the same."**

"**Kaiba is… exactly how I always imagined him to be, but at the same time, not at all."**

"**I know… he doesn't automatically know you, and instantly love you like in our fantasies. I feel the same about Joey, only worse 'cause I totally made a fool of myself in front of him, like, seven times."**

**She laughed and looked better already. It was at that moment that I realized we were changed forever, whether we liked it or not. I was learning to be braver, whether with the help of a spirit or not, and I would hold that knowledge with me for the rest of my life. And Steph, she was learning how to show what she felt on the inside to her friends, like myself, and it hurt her not to feel so strong. **

"**Look, he may like you much now, but there's always time, while we're stuck here. Besides, opposites attract. Maybe its better that you aren't as similar as you first thought."**

"**I guess… Are you getting hungry, because I am." **

**I nodded in agreement and we rushed off to find the boys and some food.**

End note: Well there's that chapter. I'd love to know what you think and if you've gotany ideas (no garentee that I'll use them.) Thank you those that have reviewed already and I look forward to your future comments. Stay tuned!


	8. If Kaiba Fell In Love

**When Worlds Collide **

Note: Is anyone actually reading this thing? If so, please, please review so that I know you are. Oh well, here goes nothing for Chapter 8…

Chapter Eight: If Kaiba fell in love…

**That night, I lay awake, plotting the utter demise of Mai Valentine in an attempt to lull myself to sleep. However, I found that my hatred for her and will to come up with silly circumstances was faltering. This, I knew, was not good, since I had been plotting circumstances in my head from a young age and always found it amusing. I was changing, and I was afraid.**

**Seeing that the moon was full and bright, I got out of the bed and walked onto the balcony. My hair, free from its ponytail for once because it was nighttime, fluttered lightly in the breeze and I felt content for a few minutes until my mind found something to fret about.**

**How were we going to get home? And when, if, we did, where would we go from there? What if we changed, but our world stayed the same? Would we ever fit into it again?**

**I sighed and slumped down, hitting my head on the railing as I did so. "Oh, crud it," I muttered, rubbing the spot. I looked up and could have sworn that I saw Seto Kaiba climbing over the railing. **

**Fearing that I had firmly injured my head, I stood up quickly and poked the 'hallucination', which did not take kindly to that.**

"**Hey, don't touch me, you geek. What are you doing on _my_ hotel room balcony? Who are you?"**

"**Gosh, Kaiba, I'm hurt. You don't remember me?" I pouted, thinking that I was just imagining this, and continued to be my usual self instead of the act I put on for people. "And this is not _your_ hotel room, it's ours."**

"**I come here all the time and no one's ever had this room before… I'll have to have someone talk to the manager of this place." **

**He didn't seem to know what to say next, so I tried to contemplate what a Kaiba hallucination was likely to do to me. Hmm, that gave me two options, either try to kill me or kiss me. I waited.**

**When neither thing took place, I realized that this could, unlikely as it seemed, be the actual Seto Kaiba.**

"**Oh, fudge," I whispered. "You're really Kaiba."**

"**How much time have you been spending with dog boy, exactly? Of course I'm actually me. And… this is a waste of my time. I came here to be alone and now you're in my way once again…" he trailed off, apparently not able to come up with an appropriate insult.**

"**I am so sorry, Kaiba… I thought I had hit my head and… Oh, never mind it… sorry."**

"**Whatever."**

**And for several moments we both just stood there, on a hotel balcony in the middle of the night. I didn't know what to say, and for once, it seemed, neither did the mighty Seto Kaiba. I vaguely wondered if he perhaps did have a heart, but decided that it was merely the bump to the head talking. **

"**Um… Why _do_ you come up here, Kaiba?"**

"**That's none of your business."**

**I sighed and stared into the distance. "My friend Steph used to be a lot like you, Kaiba. She didn't like it when people saw that she was only human."**

"**That's none of your business, you… you-"**

"**Oh, shut it, Kaiba, and let someone help you for once in your sorry life. What I;m trying to say… is that it's okay to let someone in… I'm not saying that has to be me, or Steph, or anyone like that, but someday, Kaiba… someday you'll need someone to be there, but you will have pushed everyone away. Don't let that happen to you, because trust me when I say this; I know what it's like to be alone, and it isn't a place that anyone deserves to be, not even you."**

"**I…"**

**I looked at him, and in the darkness I thought I saw just a flicker of emotion in his icy eyes, but it was soon gone.**

"**I tried," I whispered, not meaning for him to hear.**

"**See, that's the problem. Everyone thinks that I'm a hopeless case. No one really wants to help; they just want the satisfaction of being the one who breaks Seto Kaiba."**

"**No… you can't label people like that before you know them. I had you written off as a pigheaded jerk the moment you opened you mouth, but I think I was wrong. There may be hope for you yet, Seto Kaiba. And for me, too."**

**I think that he decided to just take the advice and act like nothing had ever happened, because he didn't reply. Instead, he started to climb down from the balcony. It was then that the whole Romeo and Juliet scenario of it all hit me, and I just had to laugh. It was too funny, the thought of Kaiba being anyone's Romeo, and me being a Juliet. **

"**What's so funny up there?" Kaiba snapped, making me laugh even harder. **

"**You… and… balcony… and… me," I tried through fits of laughter. I knew, somewhere within me, that I was going to start crying once the hysterics wore off. Kaiba couldn't see that. "Just... oh." I gave up, feeling the laughter falter and the tears well up. **

**As they fell, I hoped blindly that he couldn't see me. "Are you… are you still down there?" I asked, trying to keep the tears from showing in my voice.**

**Silence, and then, "Yes. Is… is there… a problem up there?"**

**I wanted to faint. He was being nice! Oh, someone fetch a camera, I thought wildly. And then I realized that I was still crying, and that he was waiting for an answer.**

"**No… I'm…" Fine, I thought, say fine. But I couldn't force that word out. I had just told him not to shun people, and there I was doing just that. "not okay in the least. Things aren't going very good for me right now… but it doesn't matter," I laughed falsely. "I'm wasting your time. Just go."**

**But he wasn't gone. He was on the balcony again, next to me. "I… I guess I'm supposed to say something nice to you about now… but I've got nothing."**

**I smiled and looked up, feeling strangely comforted by his presence there. Only inches from my face, were two ice blue eyes that glittered faintly in the moonlight. They were so opaque, so hard to read… it was amazing. **

"**What's going on in that head of yours, Kaiba?"**

"**I'm not going to answer that."**

"**I thought not. You know… I cannot peg a label on you, Kaiba. I've never not been able to do that before. But you… you are something else. You like it that way, don't you?"**

**Again, he opted not to respond. I sighed. "Forget it."**

"**Why… why were you… crying?"**

**My head shot up with surprising speed and I felt my eyes widen. "I… it's nothing. Nothing that matters to you."**

"**What if I said… it does matter?"**

"**Then I'd tell you that I miss my family, and my dog and my friends… but most of all, I miss being able to predict that nothing special was going to happen to me."**

"**Are you… far… from home?"**

"**Yeah… farther than you could know. And I miss it… It may have been boring… but it was safe. This… this is not the life of boring, fat Lily the author… I don't even know what to call this."**

"**I think I know how you feel. Those first days that I started… changing… I kept thinking that it wasn't right, wasn't fair… wasn't my life at all. You see how that ended up."**

"**Are you proud?"**

"**Proud… of what?"**

"**Of… this. Girls love you, they all want to be your girlfriend… men envy you for your money and for the earlier mentioned… and you have all the money a person could want. Are you happy?"**

"**No."**

**I laughed bitterly. "Of course not. Who is? I'm not… your not… Steph's not… my gosh, I bet even Joey isn't happy. How so you become happy?"**

"**You're asking me? That's not very bright."**

**I sighed and looked up at the moon. "I think… that they," I pointed to a prak bench that was lit up, showing a couple holding hands. "are happy, at least right this moment. But I don't think I'm ever going to get there…"**

"**I know I'm not. People hate me… at least you have dog boy and Yugi to talk to."**

**I snorted. "Joey and Yugi are great… but they don't feel that way about me… no one feels that way about me. Random girls on the street feel that way about you."**

**He shook his head and looked away from me. "I think… that I know of at least one person who does feel that way about you."**

**I raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Despite my breakthrough with Kaiba, I was beginning to feel drowsy. Maybe, I thought, he won't notice if I just… rest my eyes.**

**_Kaiba's POV:_**

_**She was just sitting there one minute, and I was trying to say the right thing to her, when she just sort of… fell against me. I looked down to see that she was asleep, and smiled slightly, since no one was around to see it. **_

_**She was so smart… and so nice, even to me. Why did she care what happened to me? After all, I insulted her and her friends and the guy she's obviously sweet on. Shouldn't she hate me? **_

_**I found myself stroking her hair, and then stopped. This was not something that should happen to me. I was supposed to be calm… supposed to feel nothing. How could she have this kind of effect on me?**_

**_Finally, I decided that it was getting too late, or too early really, for me to be out of the mansion. What if there was an emergency and they found out that I wasn't there? Then I could never sneak out again. _**

_**The only choice was to take Lily inside and then go home. Maybe she'd think it was just a dream… Did I really want that?**_

End note: Hate to break the mood, but I'm tired and I have a killer headache. Expect more very soon. There is a button at the bottom of the screen that I know you want to press… please review. Stay tuned!


	9. Chasing The Wind

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Well… here it is… chapter 9. Wow. Thank you to the people who have reviewed, and know that I am made very happy by reviews… they mean that people are reading this…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, the Sevenwaters Trilogy or Tamora Pierce's books, or any of the characters, events and places relating to the above. I will take credit for the storyline and, of course, Lily and Steph, my fabulous OCs. Enjoy the story!

Chapter 9: Chasing the Wind

**After a very fitful night, I woke to wonder what on earth was wrong with my brain. Had that Kaiba thing been a dream or… yes, it had surely been a dream. After all, since when did Kaiba care about anything besides himself, money and Mokuba? **

**And then I felt my head and noticed the bruise. That much had really happened, at least. Being a very curious person, I would not be able to relax until I found out what had happened, and so, after making sure Steph was still asleep, I crept out onto the balcony to search for evidence of Kaiba's visit.**

**Squinting down at the lawn, I was almost positive that I saw the faint indent of footprints on the lawn below. I decided that even my mind wouldn't stretch as far as the events of that night had gone, and that only reality would hold something so weird. Somehow, that brought a faint blush to my cheeks. **

"**Lil? What are you doing out there?"**

"**Admiring the view, of course. What are _you _doing in there?"**

"**Not showing the whole world my pajamas, I think, which is more than can be said for you."**

**_Oh no, _I though desperately_, not the ones with the… v-neck. _Sure enough, I was wearing v-neck pajamas and standing on a hotel balcony. Worse still was the knowledge that Kaiba had seen that. Just my luck. **

"**Darn it!"**

**Steph laughed and I fought off the urge to hit her. If she ever found out about my conversation with Kaiba, then I'd be dead. I might as well stay on her good side to prevent extreme pain to myself. Things were not turning out very well for me.**

"**You might want to come in here, Lily. I think that guy on the street is going to come up here if you don't."**

**At least she found it funny, because I sure didn't. Being closer to the street, I could see that 'that guy' was Duke. I fought off the urge to scream 'What about Serenity' and walked into the room, closing the door firmly behind me. **

"**Who shall we bother today?" Steph asked me from the bathroom where she was changing. **

"**Why not go to the library instead? I wonder if they have Tamora Pierce books there…"**

"**Alright, but only because I need the fourth Alanna book."**

"**How many times must I tell you that it's Song of the Lioness, not Alanna!" **

**I guess I should tell you that this is a long going argument between us, and that I always end up dropping the subject. The same happened now. **

**I looked through my clothes to find something to wear, deciding on a pair of shorts and a black t-shirt. Sadly, this too was a v-neck. It was surprisingly difficult to find anything normal in the world of Yu-gi-oh. I sighed and went to get changed, trying to shut out a sudden mental image of Kaiba. **

"**Hey, you seem quiet, even for you. Something up?"**

"**But of course not, Steph. When does anything of interest happen to me?"**

"**Since we ended up here."**

**We both laughed and then headed off to find the library, and, hopefully, something that could take my mind off of Kaiba. **

"**They have it!" Steph exclaimed in a whisper. I looked up from the shelf and smiled at her, then returned to browsing. What was I in the mood for? Humor, romance, mystery or suspense or… all of them! I remembered that one of my books had made the journey with me, as I always have one nearby. And it just happened to be one of my all time favorites; Daughter of the Forest. I didn't need a library today.**

"**Are you ready to go, Steph?"**

"**Yeah, let's go."**

**But at that very moment we both stopped dead in our tracks. We had just heard an unmistakable voice, and both of us were thinking opposite things. My mind was screaming at me to run far, far away, while Steph, no doubt, had no inclinations of going anywhere. I was rooted to the spot, my mind far gone off to a safer place; the world of books. I was thinking about Sevenwaters, and Sorcha, and most of all, Simon. **

"**Mokuba, we've been here for more than an hour, and I have a meeting to get to. Let's go."**

**My cheeks flared, and I desperately flung myself into a nearby isle, picking up the first book I saw and pretending to read it. However, since it was about some guy doing something heroic, I heard everything that went on around me. **

"**What are you doing here, Kaiba? Can't a girl come to the library without interruption in this silly city?"**

**I sighed, a little too loudly, at her antics, and felt my cheeks get redder as all three of them turned to look at me. **

"**Oh, um, hi Kaiba, Mokuba. Nice day, isn't it?" I rambled, hoping that they would just go away. **

"**Come on, Mokuba, I'm going to be late."**

"**But Seto, you can't just ignore them like that."**

"**Ignore who?"**

**I smiled despite myself at the very amusing expression on Steph's face as the man of her dreams turned his back and walked away without even the slightest acknowledgement. I felt sorry for her, really, but she had always been the one who got the guys' attention; maybe it was due time for a change. Who says the quiet one isn't attractive?**

"**Steph, don't worry about-"**

"**He's gonna pay for treating me like that! He can boss other people around, and he can ignore them all he wants, but nobody crosses _me_!"**

"**Er, Steph… Isn't that a bit of an overreaction? Don't get me wrong, I know that wasn't very polite, but did it ever occur to you that he may be as scared of people as I am, only he handles it differently?" **

**To tell you the truth, that had just occurred to me as well, but it seemed like a good way to calm her down, so I pretended it was obvious.**

"**No way! Kaiba… scared? Never."**

"**I don't know… I mean, he has to be human, right? And I know better than anyone what it feels like when new people make you nervous. If I wasn't so darn shy, I'd probably be even worse… You'd be lucky to still have your head. You know how _my _temper gets; just imagine someone who actually has a reason to hate everyone in the whole world."**

"**That's just silly. I refuse to even talk about it. Let's get something to eat; I'm starved."**

**I just shrugged and put the book back on the shelf. Steph always won our little spats because she had the personality of a leader, like a king, while I had the personality of that one guy on the sidelines whose name nobody remembers. Actually, I kind of was a person on the sidelines whose name nobody remembered, but Steph, she didn't rule the world just yet… I was giving her a few more years to accomplish that task. **

"**How about Chinese?" I asked, seeing the third Chinese restaurant in a one mile radius. "**

"**Alright. I'll order, as usual. What do you-?"**

"**I am getting really tired of you're attitude towards my shyness! I can order for myself, you know!"**

"**Okay, okay… gosh, what did you do last night; throw away your chill pills?"**

"**Of course not…" I was going to joke around with her, but then I suddenly wasn't in the mood. "I'm not the one who needs them, anyway."**

"**Just what is that supposed to mean?"**

**I lost the bravery to go on, and just shrugged. "I meant Kaiba, but go ahead and be all defensive if you want, I don't mind." And then, of course, I felt guilty for saying mean things about Kaiba, and I mentally reminded myself that he didn't need any more enemies in the world. **

"**Let's just eat," Steph said, walking into the restaurant and knowing that I would follow, because that what I'd always done and both of us feared change. **

**Late that night, I couldn't sleep, which was no big shocker, so I pulled out my book and crept onto the balcony with a flashlight. **

**Although I was deeply absorbed in my reading (it was the Simon part), there were a few sounds that I would have been able to hear during a tornado when I had headphones on. One of them, or course, was Joey's voice, but the other… was the sound of a motorcycle. **

**You see, my dad had a motorcycle, and I had a need for speed. I loved feeling the wind on my face, and hearing it rush by me, and I loved the feeling that you could just escape all of your problems; throw them into the wind and let it take them far, far away. **

**So naturally, my first instinct was to look for the source of the sound, and I'm going to assume that you know what came next. I suppose that in a way, I had expected him to come. Why else would I be wearing my clothes, with my hair up, and sitting on the balcony in the silence of the night without anything but a book to keep me company? I think he knew I would be there too, because what happened next was, as far as I know, unspoken. **

**I climbed down from the balcony and fell, um, gracefully onto the ground. Then brushing the dirt off my clothes, I walked up the motorcycle with a small smile on my face. Kaiba, of course, was not smiling, but merely looking at me. Something happened just then, I think. It was, perhaps, a small change in both of us, enough to make us both take this chance, one that I would have been to afraid to take, and that Kaiba just plain wouldn't for unknown reasons. But that wasn't what we did that night. He held out a helmet to me and I took, swinging myself onto the back of the vehicle with practiced ease. He seemed surprised.**

"**You didn't think this was the first time I snuck out of the house to ride a motorcycle, did you?" I joked. "Because don't worry… it is."**

**He just shrugged and started the engine, earning a broad smile from me. In about five seconds, I was no longer worried to death that I was doing something I promised myself I would never do; sneaking out with a boy. It didn't exactly help that this 'boy' was Seto Kaiba. **

**But with the wind blowing around me, it was almost impossible to worry about much of anything, except not falling off. This was a difficult task with my hands trying desperately to grab on to anything but Kaiba's waist, which was, of course, the logical solution. **

"**Hold on!" He yelled back to me, accelerating. Wanting to go faster, I swallowed my pride and held on for dear life. **

**Having never been this close to a guy before, I was one scared girl. But I wanted to go fast, wanted to erase all of the painful memories that always dwelled just under the surface of my mind, the ones that no one knew about but me. My own thoughts run amuck, tearing me apart from the inside out.  
**

**When I thought about that, I realized that Kaiba and I were not so different. In fact, we had very much in common, but dealt with it in different ways.**

**I withdrew from the world, losing myself in fantasies and romance novels, only to wake in the middle of the night crying because I would love out my days alone. Crying that I was too afraid to stick up for myself, too frightened of the consequences to really live. And I always cried alone, and put on a happy face, or an angry face towards others.**

**Did Kaiba cry alone at night too? I had never even considered that, but it was actually very likely. I knew what it was like to feel alone, and I knew that Kaiba, too, was a loner. Maybe there was a way that we could help one another to change. Maybe, just maybe, I would at last make peace with my inner demons. Maybe.**

**And then Kaiba suddenly hit the brakes, causing the bike to swerve, resulting in a very uncomfortable moment, in which I was holding on to Kaiba like a scared three year old. But then I saw Joey.**

"**Wheeler? What the-"**

"**Eh, Kaiba, why don't we finish dis fight right here, right now? I'm sick of havin' you bug me an' Yuge."**

**I shook my head wildly, all thoughts but one pushed from my mind. That was not Joey. I had sat and stared at the screen blushing, and cried my eyes out at night because he wasn't real; I would know that voice, that face, anywhere. **

"**Marik! You leave him alone! I don't know what this is about, but it doesn't concern him or Kaiba!"**

"**I'm sorry, my dear, are you bothered by my new body? That's too bad, but don't worry, as long as you come with me, neither of them will get hurt, too much."**

**Kaiba stepped forward, but I held him back with a single hand, blind rage forcing its way into my heart. "No, this is my fight, and I'm going to start fighting it myself."**

"**If you thought that it would be easy to… to… whatever you plan to do to me, well you're too late… I'm not that girl anymore."**

"**No matter what you think you are, you'll always just be a scared little girl, Lily. Maybe the spirit is making you feel braver, but that will change. I will have its power, and the shadows can have your mind."**

**Fear shot into me like ice; my worst fear was to not be able to have my mind… to go insane, or to be sent to the shadows. But I couldn't let him hurt Joey or Kaiba because of me. **

"**We'll see about that, Marik. But this is between us, and it doesn't concern Joey and S… Kaiba. Let them go."**

"**I think not, my dear. I like this body and I can't be free of that cursed Shadow Realm without one."**

**I felt as if I was going to cry… nothing like this had ever happened to me before. I'd never had to be strong. **

"**Run, Kaiba. I'm not going to answer for both of you being hurt. Find Steph and tell her what's going on."**

**Kaiba, for once, did not argue. He looked at me, and seemed to see something in my eyes that told him to go, and then he nodded and climbed onto the motorcycle and drove back the way we had come. **

End note: Well, it's a cliffhanger again, sorry. So... what do you think? Please review and tell me. Stay tuned for Chapter 10.


	10. The Spirits In and Out

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Hope you liked the last chapter; I thought it was a little grainy. Oh, well, on with the while Marik deal…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, and I never will… You get the picture.

Chapter Ten: The Spirits In and Out.

**I knew that a breakdown was on the horizon, but I knew that it could wait until I knew that Joey was safe. **

"**What do you want with me, Marik?"**

"**It's not you I want, it's that spirit you've got with you. Who in the world would care about you?"**

**I wanted to scream and slam my fist on the ground and beg to be saved, or better yet, absorbed into the rain or the wind. I didn't want to have to face this, because he was right. No one did care about me.**

"**Well, I don't have much of an idea of what you're talking about, but if this spirit is going to help you to be free if I give it up, then I think I'll keep it or else let it leave, but I'm not giving anything to you."**

**He advanced towards me, and my heart dispersed just a little but more with each step. I had to be strong… but I was weak. **

**Out of nowhere, it seemed, he pulled out the Millennium Rod, and forced it under my chin.**

"**I could banish you to the shadows, my dear, easily, but you interest me. You are weak and alone, and yet you refuse to give up. I want to see what happens when the spirit is gone. So hold still and I won't get rid of you just yet."**

**The rod glowed and I felt as if some power of some sort was being pulled away from me. I wanted to scream, but my body wouldn't obey me. I knew enough of the rod to know that he was likely controlling it, and that both scared me and made me angry.**

"**You… can't… win, Marik. Joey's stronger than you, even if I'm not. Or have you forgotten; he broke your control before, and he can do it again."**

**He laughed. "I think not. That was when my weaker side was in the way, but that isn't the case this time."**

"**You… are evil, Marik. Joey… is not. He will win."**

"**If I'm evil, then what are you? You shun the entire world, and yet you still manage to blame them for your pain. That is not so good-hearted of you."**

"**I…" I was losing my grip is what I was. I couldn't force any more words out of my mouth, and I was scared. But then I saw a shining woman standing before me as if I was having some sort of vision.**

**_You cannot listen to him, Lily. I would not have chosen you to teach if you did not deserve my help. But I will not ask you do fight this battle, not to save me. It is fate that I fall to him… but it is your fate to stop him. Why else do you think he would bother to talk to you at all? He is trying to scare you, and I fear that his skill at doing this is great. You are strong, despite what you think, or what anyone says. Only you can defeat him for good. No pharaoh understands what it is to feel weak, and therefore has no struggle to face Marik's vile words. Only someone with a real heart; one that has felt pain, and one that has failed, can stop him. I hope that I do ask too much. Stand up and face this, for it will not be your toughest challenge. Good bye._**

**She faded, leaving me alone once more. But no, I realized, I was never truly alone. The few people who cared about me were there for me always. And Marik was certainly not going to hurt Joey while I was there.**

"**Ahh, that power. Soon I will have a body of my own and I can leave this fool broken like the rest." **

"**Not on my watch you won't!"**

"**So, you still have some strength left? I can fix that. Say hello to the shadows for me, my dear."**

**I slapped the rod out of his hands and looked into Joey's empty eyes. "You may not know me very well, but you still have an obligation to your friends, whether they are standing before you or not. Joey… you aren't going to let him win, are you?"**

"**It is useless, you fool, Wheeler is no longer present."**

"**You what, pal, I am so sick of your trash talk. You seem to think that you can just march around, taking over people's minds and treating people like your little pawns, and I don't appreciate that kind of behavior. Some one needs to teach you a lesson, and seeing as Joey is a little indisposed, I guess that'll have to be me."**

**He laughed and slowly edged towards the rod, thinking that I didn't notice. "You? You're only a child, lost in a world that you don't belong in. I know what Wheeler thinks, and his opinion of you is very low. I must say that I agree; you are a freak."**

"**Sorry, but Joey has much more creative adjectives than that, and I know better than to believe you. Just look at what you did to Mai. If I let you, you'll do the same to me, and to Joey and even to Kaiba."**

"**And you think you can stop me?"**

"**No, I know I can."**

**He reached out to grab the rod and I smashed his hand beneath my foot, grabbing it myself. A screeching pain throbbed into my head; the rod thought me unworthy to hold it. It's not like I wanted to, so I threw it into a wall, wishing it would shatter. No such luck, as always.**

"**You actually thought that would work?"**

"**You don't know what I think!"**

**And suddenly, I had an idea. Maybe Joey had a one track mind that was easy to find your way around in, but I didn't. I didn't even know my own way around in there, so Marik surely would have no luck. It was a risk, but it could save Joey.**

"**If you want to do anything, Marik, you'll have to go through me first," I declared, hoping to provoke him into my head. **

"**Ha! I can easily handle you. In fact, you'll be a little bit more of a challenge than Wheeler, and much more fun to see fall."**

**I tried not to smile as I felt him enter my mind. Bracing myself for the onslaught, I unleashed all the shame, all the memories and fears that I kept locked up in my head and set them lose. Falling to my knees, I saw Joey blinking rapidly through the cloud of thoughts in my head. He was okay. **

**_What on earth is this place?_ Screamed Marik's voice in my crowded head.**

**_What did you expect, hun? A quiet, complacent little mind? No, this is what I have to keep under control every day of my life. I can handle it, because it's all I know, but what about you? _**

**There was no reply, and I knew that only one thing could really finish him off. I had to somehow send him back to the Shadow Realm, but I didn't know how. **

_**So, is this better than the shadows, Marik? Cozy, isn't it. Don't you love fear, feed on pain? What's the matter, met your match?**_

**I crawled towards the rod, hoping that its connection to the shadows could be used to banish Marik. If not, I was out of ideas.**

_**You're weak Lily; a weak, pathetic-**_

_**Do you really want to add to the jumble in here? Because if you think this is bad, try dealing with how I felt before. How I feel in the still of the night, when no body is there to hear me cry. How you're gonna feel when I'm done with you.**_

**I wrapped a hand around the rod and tried to force its magic on Marik.**

_**You want to feed the shadows, rod? Then take him… he'll take a lot longer to break than I will. Won't that be fun? **_

**I could feel it thinking this over, and I felt its decision. There was a flash of light and a scream in my head that for once did not belong to me. **

**And then I broke down. They were loose; all the thoughts I'd struggled to keep in chains for all these years were flying around in my head. **

_**I was in fourth grade, and I teased my friend by poking with a pencil. The sub saw it, and she… she yelled at me. Oh, the shame… I failed. Failed.**_

_**I ran out onto the deck, refusing to talk to her, refusing to take the phone. "Now she's running outside. I'm sorry about this." I couldn't hear my teacher's reply, but it didn't matter. I'd failed her… I had failed to be the perfect student. I had failed.**_

"**Lily? What's going on? I could swear dat Marik was in my head again. Is he in your's now?"**

**My tears were falling freely as each and every mistake of my life flooded back to me. I didn't want Joey to see me cry… another one to add to the list.**

"**Lily? I heard you tell me not to give up… shouldn't you listen to your own words? What's going on with you?"**

**I heard his voice… and I wanted to compose myself. I had to be perfect… couldn't mess up in front of anyone. I had to control it again.**

**Once again, I envisioned a large metal chain reining in my thoughts and fears; dragging them into the dark corner from which they had been born. It had always worked, and it could work again.**

"**Joey? I'm okay now. Are you?"**

**He looked at me uncertainly, but let go of me nonetheless. I realized that he had been holding me and blushed crimson.**

"**I'm fine. What happened back dere?"**

"**You were right, it was Marik. He was controlling you; using you for an ill purpose at which I cannot even fathom. But he's gone now, hopefully forever."**

"**You aren't… aren't like most girls, you know dat, don't you?"**

"**Of course I do. I could never be like Mai, and Tea and Ishisu. I'm not strong enough, and I likely never will be. But I'm okay."**

"**Hey, Lily, Joey, over here!"**

**Steph was beaming more brightly than I'd ever seen her before from the back of Kaiba's motorcycle. I could guess that Kaiba had not told her the full story yet.**

"**Hey. Where've you been? It's been almost an hour since you left… I was beginning to think you'd left me for dead. Which would be so my luck, of course."**

**Joey and Steph had similar looks of confusion on their faces, and I met Kaiba's eyes and smiled. He didn't smile back, but then. I'd expected that. He wasn't ready, and that was okay.**

"**It's a long story, but I'll give you the outline. Marik was trying to escape the Shadow Realm, so he kidnapped me, took over Joey's body and then took that spirit that was helping me to b e braver. I'd imagine he got yours too, Steph." **

**She nodded. "I feel different. That makes since." She glanced at Kaiba, then back at me. "Go one."**

"**And he possessed Joey, and that's when Kaiba rode by. He must have been on a ride or something, but I was desperate enough to flag him down and persuade him to get help, aka, you."**

**Joey accepted it and Steph just narrowed her eyes at Kaiba. She probably knew that I was hiding something, but then, I'm sure that I looked pretty bad, having just faced all my fears, and she let it go. **

"**I've got more important things to do than sit around here," Kaiba declared, looking at me oddly when I smirked at him. "I'm leaving."**

**Steph jumped off, handed him the helmet and then looked with horror at the open saddlebag. Laying inside it was my book, and when Kaiba saw it, he threw it at me and I'd swear that I saw him wink before he rode off. **

"**Umm… well, now, how did that get there?" I said, pretending to be astonished. **

**Steph rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm letting the both of you off the hook for now, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this eventually."**

**I ignored her and turned to Joey. "Come on, we'll walk you home."**

**He just shrugged and looked at both of us for a second before starting to walk to his house, with us following. I don't think he realized it, but we were there to protect him, or at least, I was, in case Marik hadn't been gotten rid of. **

**We could not, however, protect him from what happened next. I don't think much of anyone could have. **

End note: Okay, now it just looks like I'm leaving you hanging on purpose, doesn't it? Sorry. Well, before I go on, what do you think? I really would like to hear it, the good and the bad. And so, until next chapter, I must bid you adieu. Stay tuned!


	11. Of Kaiba, Tristan and Duke

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: Hee hee… I just won 2nd place in a writing competition! Oh, sorry… just kind of excited; it's only 2nd, after all… Well, here's chapter 11. Sorry for the wait, it's a long story, what with the grounding and the writer's block and such. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, Taco Bell or the Spiderman comics (property of Marvel last I heard.) Just enjoy the story, okay?

Chapter Eleven: Of Kaiba, Tristan and Duke

**I sighed as we neared Joey's house, and the weight of everything that was going on hit me full in the face. I'd nearly been sent to the Shadow Realm, and I'd been worried about Joey and Kaiba. What was wrong with me? Was I… no. I refused to believe that such a thing would ever happen to boring old me. **

"**Hey, Serenity, I'm home," Joey called, opening the door. We heard scrambling and I felt that something was wrong. **

"**And that's how you win a duel, Serenity," a male voice said.**

"**What? Tristan, if you laid one hand on my sister I'll-"**

"**Relax, Joey, I was just teaching her how to duel. You are seriously paranoid, dude. You need help."**

"**Get… out… now."**

"**But Joey-"**

"**I don't wanna hear it, Serenity. I just want-"**

"**Everyone chill! I am tired of this argument and I have a headache. Joey, you can't always protect your sister; she has to live and make mistakes just like you do. And-"**

"**But-"**

"**DO NOT INTERUPT ME, JOEY!"**

**He swallowed and stepped back to avoid the rage of a confused girl who spent too much time alone.**

"**Serenity, you should try to communicate with Joey, hard as it may be, and finally, Tristan, don't make out with Joey's sister on your first date. It's just low."**

**Tristan muttered something under his breath and I was holding his collar in a flash. **

"**You wanna try saying that to my face, bub?" I paused to enter a mood swing and crack up laughing because I sounded like Wolverine. "Go ahead, tough guy, say it so we can hear."**

"**I heard him fine," Joey said with a smirk. "He said-"**

"**Joey, I'm warning you-"**

"**That you wouldn't know when it's low to kiss a girl 'cause you never been kissed before."**

**I turned a shade of red that I am positive no one had ever seen before that say and released Tristan's collar. It was an insulting enough lie, but all the worse when it was true.**

"**If you EVER, ever, mention that again, Tristan, I will not hesitate to hit you very, very hard. My love life, or the lack thereof, is none of your business. Now, get out of Joey's house."**

"**You can't order me out of his house, it's not yours."**

"**Tristan, get outta here before I have ta make you!"**

"**All right, all right, I'm leaving. Sheesh, you people have serious issues."**

**I glanced at Joey with a spark of humor in my eyes. "Shall we kill him yet?"**

"**Nah, he ain't worth the jail time."**

**Tristan was halfway out of the door at this point and looked thoroughly insulted. I glared at him, just daring him to make any move back into the house. He left.**

"**Eh… I'm sorry dat he said dat about you, Lily. He's just mad 'cause he likes my sistuh."**

**I blushed slightly from the sound of his voice, but only nodded. It wasn't really fair to take insult to a statement such as that one anyhow. After all, I hadn't ever been kissed, and therefore would not know. But it still stung… no matter what the truth behind it was. **

"**I have to go… Where's Steph?"**

**Steph was staring out the window and looking very thoughtful. I knew what was on her mind; the mystery of me, Kaiba, and my book. I shook my head and poked her in the back.**

"**Let's go. Just being here kinda gives me the creeps, you know?"**

"**Not really, but let's go anyhow. I have a mystery to solve."**

"**Will you just let it go? Nothing happened, and there is no mystery."**

"**Hmm…"**

**It was at times like that when I regretted the fact that she knew me so well. She read me like an open book most of the time, which was bad news for both Kaiba and I. She wouldn't understand that there wasn't any type of relationship between us. But there wasn't… was there?**

**I walked out of the door and was, as usual, paying no attention to where I was going. This time, however, such an action bore consequences. I ran smack dab into someone, knocking them over and falling on top of them.**

"**Ow… what's the big idea?"**

"**Oops, sorry," I muttered, standing up and feeling amazed that someone had survived the ordeal of having my full weight atop them. I looked down and offered my hand to the fallen Duke Devlin. **

"**Hi, I'm Lily. Sorry for the fall… I was paying no attention to where I was going."**

**He nodded and looked at Steph with interest. I sighed and rolled my eyes, secretly glad that things were going back to normal. The guys had always noticed her.**

"**And that's Steph," I whispered, knowing that my name had fallen out of his mind. He was practically drooling, and Steph was too busy staring down the street to care, because down the street, Seto Kaiba and his brother were walking. **

"**Hi," Duke said, offering his hand to Steph. "I'm Duke Devlin, the creator of-"**

"**Dungeon Dice Monsters," Steph finished, staring longingly at Kaiba. "I know, and I don't really care."**

**Duke looked not the least put off by this. **

**_Oh dear, _I thought, _he likes challenges. Steph is doomed. _**

"**Oh, Lily, he's coming this way… Quick, do I look scary?"**

**I rolled my eyes, smiling at Duke in an offhand way, trying to chase him off for her. It didn't work.**

"**No… erm, yes? What is the appropriate answer to that question?"**

"**You look incredibly scary," Duke said. I sighed and rolled my eyes yet again. How pathetically persistent. And to think I had admired him… **

"**Oh, Seto, can we go in this one, please?" Mokuba begged his brother as he saw the nearby comic book store. They were now, obviously, within earshot. Kaiba hadn't seen me yet, and I made an attempt to escape, but it was blundered by Mokuba.**

"**Hey, Seto, aren't those the girls form the library?"**

**Kaiba glanced at Steph and nodded, and then his eyes fell upon me standing next to Duke. I shrugged and pointy at Steph, hoping that explained his being there. **

"**Yes. And this is the last store, Mokuba; I'm late for a meeting."**

"**Don't just ignore me like that, Kaiba," Steph proclaimed in false rage. I tried to disappear, but it was no use. I was trapped in this conversation.**

"**What would you have me say? I don't have anything to talk about with the likes of you."**

"**Steph… let's just go. I'm getting a bit tired and-"**

"**Don't think you're off the hook either, Lily. I want some answers out of you two and I want them now."**

**I looked pleadingly at Kaiba, who just shrugged. This may have been a slight mistake, as Steph was quick to pick up on it.**

"**See? You're exchanging looks. And you just shrugged at her, Kaiba. What's going on?"**

**I fought off the urge to say 'We're having a relationship, dumbo', just to see the look on her face and tried to look innocent. **

"**I have no idea what's gotten into you, Steph… What on earth could possibly be going on between me and Seto Kaiba? Have you forgotten who I am? Who he is? People like me don't get lucky enough to receive a second glance from people in his position." I pleaded with my eyes that he not take it personally before going on. "You should know me better, Steph."**

**And then it hit me how much we had both changed. Here I was, keeping a secret from her, and there she was, actually seeming jealous of me. It was almost too much to handle. **

"**Hurry up in there, Mokuba," Kaiba called into the shop behind him. **

**_NO, _I thought at him, _you're not leaving me to deal with her again. What should I say? Will the truth ever work in this situation? What is the truth?_**

"**You really need to see someone about your paranoia problem. As if _I_ would really have anything to do with _her_."**

**I felt, despite the charade that had to be put on, hurt. He looked so sure about the insult. I swallowed and fought back tears. Steph noticed this and, instead of being angry as she should have been, she just shrugged. **

"**I don't know what you two are hiding, but I plan to find out. I'm leaving now, Lily, and I don't care whether or not you follow."**

**The double blow was a bit too much and I felt a tear slide down my cheek. No… he couldn't see me cry. I choked back the rest of the tears and was silent. **

"**I… I hope you weren't… upset by… what I said. I didn't mean it I… I just panicked. I don't want your friend to hate you… because of… me."**

"**Who, Steph? Oh, she gets like that at the rare times when I get more attention than she does," I said, jabbing my thumb at Duke, who was following her. "This is only the second time it's happened."**

"…**Why is that… do you think?"**

"**I think… that Steph is… more… outgoing… more, special, than I am. She's like, wow, while I'm more of a who's that. Nobody can ever keep my name in their head for more than a little while."**

"**That isn't true," he said very quietly. He was still so unsure of this kinder side of him that he felt the need to whisper. "I remember your name… and Wheeler remembers well enough, especially for him."**

**I just looked away, into the comic shop. "Your little brother… he means a lot to you, doesn't he. More than anything else in the world?"**

"**I do care about Mokuba a lot, but he is on the same level as a few other things. It's… hard, I guess. Some of this is so… new."**

**I shook my head in disbelief. Why was I spending such a romantic, slightly cold, night with Seto Kaiba, instead of Joey? "I think… you'd have a whole lot of girls chasing after you… if you'd just show this side of yourself more often. Then maybe… maybe you could be happy. You've got money, and a job, and Mokuba, so I guess all that's left is love."**

**He was silent, staring off into space. I wanted to know so badly what he was thinking, but knew not to pry. The silent type deserve to have their silence. **

"**You think that there is such a thing as true love?" He asked at last, not looking at me. **

"**Sometimes I don't, but then, watching the people who have such a thing to call their own, it gets hard not to. I do believe, but not for myself. For others, though, it can happen."**

"**Why… not yourself? What… what makes your case different?"**

"**Have you even looked at me, Kaiba? I'm not pretty enough to draw anyone's attention, and the few that may notice me, I chase them away with how awkward I am. Every time that I imagine love, I myself am not a part of the picture. Isn't that kind of weird?"**

"**No. When I think about love… I don't even know what to think of. Well, I'd tell people it's all fake, but that doesn't mean it's what I really think."**

"**It must be one of those things that you have to see… or feel… to believe in."**

**Suddenly, I felt cold; colder than I'd felt even on those nights alone thinking about my loneliness. How could someone be so nearby, while still seeming so far away? **

_**Kaiba's POV:**_

_**I knew that this was my chance. If I was going to ask her, it had to be now. But what if she said no? Here's goes nothing, I guess. Oh, this is silly, just ask it.**_

"_**Lily?"**_

_**She turned her sparkling green eyes upon me, adding to my nervousness. "Hmm?"**_

_**She was going to say no. I knew she was. "I… I have some… free time tomorrow night, and I was wondering if you'd like to… go to dinner or something."**_

_**Her eyes grew wide with shock and I felt very stupid. She liked Wheeler, not me. She was going to say no. I prepared myself to wave it away as if it didn't matter to me.**_

"**_Like… a date?" She asked, eyes still like saucers. _**

"_**If you want to use that formality, than yes," I said in my most uncaring, friendly but not over the top voice. I sounded like a struggling three year old who was trying to keep a secret. I knew that she was going to say no. She hated me.**_

"_**Alright. What time?"**_

_**I opened my mouth and then shut it. Alright? She hadn't said no. What time? "I don't know, what time would you want?" Stupid response. So juvenile. **_

"_**Oh, well, Steph is going to be… not happy. I would hope to hide it from her, but that would mean it would be really, really late at night."**_

_**Was she so ashamed that she couldn't let her friend know that she was going on a date with me? "I don't care. How about ten?"**_

_**She blinked at me for a moment, and I didn't know what to think. I'd never asked a girl much of anything, except to move, but that was generally an order. **_

"_**That'll be fine. Is it… going to be a fancy restaurant or…"**_

"_**We could go to a fancy place if you wanted, or we can go to Taco Bell or whatever."**_

_**I had taken Mokuba to Taco Bell a lot, since it was his favorite restaurant, so it was the first thing to come to mind. But I was Seto Kaiba, and that hardly seemed an appropriate place to take a girl on a date when you had millions. Did I sound cheap? **_

**_She laughed. Well, it was really more of a giggle, if you wanted to be specific, but that had to be a good thing, right? Unless she was laughing at me. That wasn't good._**

"**_What is so funny?"_**

**_She laughed again and pointed at me. "Your face… you look so tense. So… business like. I'm not a lawyer, so come on and smile, okay?"_**

_**Smile? It had been so long since I'd smiled. I just looked at her blankly and changed the subject.**_

"_**Why don't you surprise me, okay?" she said, growing silent and staring at the stars. I wondered what she was thinking, but I didn't dare ask. It was probably how much of a mistake she was making in hanging around me. **_

"**_Mokuba's coming," she said suddenly. _**

"_**What?" I asked, slightly confused at the abrupt change if subject. **_

"_**Seto, look what I bought!" Mokuba said, holding out a bag of Spiderman comics. He always got so excited over little things like that.**_

"_**Good. Are you ready to go?"**_

_**He looked from me to Lily with interest and then grinned. "I'm ready, Seto, but are you?"**_

_**I just shrugged my shoulders. "Well, I guess we're going then. I'll call Roland; he can give you a ride, too, Lily. It's getting dark."**_

**_Mokuba arched his eyebrows and Lily just smiled nervously. "Thank you, Kaiba."_**

_**Oh how I wished she would use my first name, but of course I couldn't suggest it. No one except Mokuba called me Seto. It seemed to have far too much significance. **_

**Lily's POV:**

**Oh my gosh, I was sitting in a limo. And not just any limo, either. It was Seto Kaiba's limo, which currently happened to include the CEO himself as well. He and Mokuba were both staring expectantly at me, making me very nervous.**

"**Um… does this thing, like, have a radio or anything?" I asked nervously. **

"**No. I never felt the need for one." Kaiba said.**

**In my mind, I was beginning to refer to him as Seto, but I was afraid to use the name aloud. What if he found it an insult to his authority or something?**

"**Wow, Seto, it seems like there are a lot of stars out tonight. Look." Mokuba said to his brother, seeming to pretend that I wasn't there.**

"**Hmm," He mumbled, glancing out the window. **

**I took a look for myself and saw that the sky was indeed freckled with a large amount of stars. It was beautiful, but it reminded me of sadder times. Sitting alone and staring out my window, for instance, or running into the night trying to escape my own thoughts. **

"**Lily?"**

"**Hmm?"**

"**Isn't this the hotel?"**

"**Oh, yeah, sorry." I fumbled with the door until Kaiba pulled it open for me. Stepping out, I glanced back and waved. "Bye Mokuba, Bye Seto."**

**Realizing my mistake, I looked at Kaiba to see his reaction. He didn't appear to have noticed, but I knew better. Maybe he didn't want to make a scene right now. As soon as the limo was out of sight, I sat down in the grass to think things over. I had an actual date. An actual, real date, with Seto Kaiba. What a strange circumstance for my first. Did it count even though this universe was different from my own?**

End note: The pending date with Seto Kaiba… how is that going to be, I wonder. And what of the use of his first name? Stay tuned to find out, and review for me, 'kay?


	12. Bridging the Gap

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: I hope this isn't too dragged (drug?) out for you people, but it needs a bit more before the amazing conclusion. Please, please, review. After this chapter, I shall reply to reviews from my profile, so go there to see what I have to say! Anyhoo…

Disclaimer: sigh I don not own Yu-gi-oh, A Cinderella Story (which is briefly quoted in the below text), or the Sevenwaters Trilogy (belonging to the fabulous author Juliet Marillier). Lil, Steph and of course, the amazing plot line, can be credited to me, so go ahead and clap. anime sweat drops when there is silence

Chapter 12: Bridging the Gap

**I tapped nervously on the railing as I waited for Kaiba to show up. I was wearing a simple outfit, a skirt and shirt, paired with a pair of sandals and a necklace that had been given to me by all of my friends a few years ago. I sighed slightly, remembering that all of my friends was not a very large count, and then sank down to read the second book in the Sevenwaters trilogy, Son of the Shadows, which I had checked out of the library and was re-reading for clarity of the series. **

**A few minutes later, I heard the sound of a motorcycle and began my descent, as I was a very slow climber and didn't want to make my date wait. **

"**Good evening," I said, lightly setting the book into the saddlebag and putting on the helmet that he had offered me. I was very, very nervous, and therefore was using my author voice. **

**Kaiba nodded and helped me on to the back of the motorcycle, which suddenly seemed so far away in my flustered state.**

"**Hold on tight," he muttered, and I obliged, though with a flush. He revved the motor and we were flying once again into the night. **

**We wheeled into the parking lot of a restaurant called Five Starr and he helped me down, making my nervous enough to want to restart the old habit of biting my nails. **

"**Do you have a reservation?" a guy in a suit asked with a very fake French accent (no insult to the French, of course, only to this poor soul who spends too much time fixing his fake moustache.)**

"**Two for Kaiba p-"**

"**Oh, Mr. Kaiba, I did not recognize you in this light and with the lady. Please, right this way."**

**I stared after the man and followed blindly, biting my lip in terror. I had just been reminded of who it was that I was on a date with.**

**We were seated in a very nice booth and earned the stares of many girls and their jealous dates. I shrunk into my seat, afraid to come between a millionaire and his fans. I was, after all, the least likely of all of them (except for that one… girl(?) in the corner) to be seated where I was in fact residing.**

**I stared down at my menu in confusion. I didn't recognize any of the names. I glanced at Kaiba, who was not even looking, in astonishment. He saw me and pointed to a certain dish that, on closer inspection, proved to be a steak platter of some sort. I nodded thankfully and rehearsed the pronunciation in my mind, hoping to get it right when the time came.**

"**May I take your orders now?" said a very attractive young waiter, making me even more nervous.**

**After ordering, which was an ordeal in itself, I looked again at my date, still amazed and half expecting to wake up from a very long, strange, dream. **

"**So… do you come here a lot?" I asked him quietly.**

"**Enough, I guess."**

**I nodded and looked around at the staring patrons of the Five Starr. "Umm," I said, leaning closer to him so that I could peak without being heard by the others. "What is their problem?"**

**He raised his eyebrows and looked around him at the people. "Oh, that. I don't know… I guess most of them never expected me to bring, you know, a girl here. I'm not exactly known for being social."**

**I giggled nervously and sat back, trying to calm my nerves. After a moment of thumb twitching, I grew bored and sought conversation again.**

"**So… um… Have you read any good books lately?" I tried, knowing that I was very desperate to go to such a subject that would start my own ridiculous rambling. **

"**Not really. I don't have much time to read, not with the company to run. I think the last time I read a book was in school, and that was Romeo and Juliet."**

**I shrugged, having never read it myself, and stared at the table for a minute. "I love to read, more than most anything else. And I write. You know, I actually have a few full-fledged novels waiting on an agent's desk right now? Only… she's from… back home." **

**Suddenly realizing that my dream was forfeit if I stayed here, I shut my mouth and stared at the floor, wanting to be back in the world of Silema and her easy right and wrong… well, anyway, her easy romance… okay, whatever. When I was the writer, I was in control. No such thing was true for this date.**

**The food came and I picked at it, staring subtly at Kaiba while he ate with deft, certain hands, never missing a step. I blushed and tried not to muck it up too badly. I had never been a very sure handed eater, having the tendency to rush or talk with food in my mouth. **

"**You know, Mokuba didn't believe me when I first told him I was bringing you here," he said, putting aside his fork for a moment.**

**As usual, my mouth was full and I could only cock my head at him and swallow. "Oh? Why not? Haven't you… been on tons of dates before?"**

**He shook his head to my astonishment. Surely at least one. "No… I could never really find anyone I wanted to have much to do with at all."**

"**Then… why on earth bring _me _here?" I asked, fidgeting slightly and putting aside my own fork. I was full, or had lost my appetite to the sudden conversation.**

"**I don't know… Because I don't hate you, and because you don't hate me either. That would seem rare enough."**

**I shrugged, thinking about my former, hopeless crush, a boy by the name of Drake. That had gone well. Not.**

"**I don't know… it's not so much hatred as simple lack of interest that screws it up for me. It's so hard… to like someone who has even the slightest idea of who you are. My… my former crush, from back home… he thought of me as just a weird, quiet reading girl who was not nearly as interesting as his girlfriend."**

"**Whoever said that weird is a bad thing?"**

**I stared at him, and then looked away. I had never met the eyes of any guy, let alone one whose deep blue ones could pierce a hole right through you. Maybe they had already managed a small one in my heart.**

"**I suppose not. I like being who I am… but it isn't enough for anyone else."**

"**I know what you mean… I'm the head of a company and all I hear is 'make some friends, Kaiba' or 'Have you got a girlfriend yet, Mr. Kaiba' and all of those types of questions."**

**I nodded vigorously and had the strangest flashback to a movie I'd watched. **

"'**Like… being yourself isn't good enough'," I quoted in a whisper. Was this going to end as well as that story had? Would I fall in love?**

**_No,_ I told myself, _that isn't going to happen. We are too different._**

"**Are you finished with your meal, miss?" the cute waiter asked as if on cue.**

"**Yup," I said, and then blushed as he laughed. **

"**Haven't heard that one in here before," he said as he took the plate away, stopping to whisper something to Kaiba.**

"**What did he say?"**

"**Oh, nothing," he muttered, picking up the check and pulling out his wallet. "Are you ready to go?"**

**I nodded and stood up, following him up to the counter and then outside. **

"**Where to now?"**

**Struck with a distant memory, I suddenly recalled where I had always wanted to go on a date. "Is there a bowling alley around here?"**

"**Yes. Why?"**

"**I'd like to go there, if you don't mind. I love bowling."**

**He shrugged and helped me onto the motorcycle again. I squealed in delight as we took off again, but not very loudly. I was getting at least half of my dream date. Okay, so all of, a motorcycle, a cute guy who wasn't a total jerk and a bowling trip. So why did I feel like something was missing?**

"**How much for one game and shoe rental?" Kaiba asked the man behind the counter who jumped slightly.**

"**Mr. Kaiba… You can have a game on the house, if you want. Just your presence here is gonna make our profits sky rocket!"**

**He just shrugged and asked me my shoe size.**

"**Nine and a half," I whispered, glancing around us. There were very few people at all, which meant less staring. **

"**Have a good time, you two."**

**I found a 10 pound, blue bowling ball and laughed as Kaiba picked up several of them, trying to find the right weight. He apparently didn't bowl much. **

"**Fourteen pounds?" I said as he started to walk off with one. "That's pretty heavy."**

**He shrugged and put in down, looking at the computer for a minute before entering his name as Kaiba. I slapped his arm before realizing who I was hitting and then had to smile innocently.**

"**It's not a meeting, you know. First names, nicknames or just something silly works too you know."**

**I walked up to the keyboard and typed Lil with a satisfied smile and changed his to Seto. **

"**Much better," I noted, indicating for him to take his turn. **

**As throws go, it was very good, and I knew that he was either very lucky or had played before. **

**After a lot of laughing, it was at last one 'o' clock and the game was finished. He won, of course, since I couldn't bowl worth anything. **

"**At least you didn't let me win," I noted as we left. "It would have been pretty obvious."**

**He shrugged. "I don't like to lose."**

"**So I've heard. You really ought to lighten up. It's too hard on a person to carry the weight of every mistake on their shoulders; I would know."**

"**What do you know about pressure?"**

"**Plenty, thank you very much. Imagine getting all As and wanting somehow to do more, wanting 100 all the time. Try having nightmares about the life you're going to lead, alone with your books and your pets. Then you'll know what my life is like."**

**He just looked away. I hoisted myself onto the motorcycle and put the helmet on, leaning against his back as he started the motor. **

**I suddenly realized what was missing from my dream date. A kiss. But certainly I did not expect this from Seto Kaiba, and on our first official date. No… of course I didn't.**

**He stopped in front of the hotel and I hopped off, grabbing my book and hugging it to my chest. **

**_Lucky Sorcha_, I thought,_ she falls in love. And I'd wager than Fiadan does as well at some point. _**

"**Good night, Lily. I hope… I hope you don't have any nightmares about loneliness tonight."**

**I smiled weakly. "Good night… Seto. Don't be too hard on yourself. Not everyone hates you."**

**I turned to leave, my heart feeling strangely jumpy, and was stopped by a hand on my own. **

"**Thank you," he whispered. "You… you're… different than other girls. You actually listen to me."**

**I shrugged and looked up, into the cool blue of his eyes. "I do try," I whispered thoughtfully. "That's all I can really do at this point."**

**And I walked back into the hotel, my heart feeling even more excited than before. Was it possible that I had seen kindness in those eyes? Was it possible that my heart did not belong to Joey after all?**

End note: Please excuse any mistakes about fancy restaurants, as I have never really been to one before. I hope you liked it. Review and stay tuned!


	13. Return To Reality

**When Worlds Collide**

Note: The last few chapters have been mainly about the blooming romance between Lily and the unexpected Seto Kaiba, but we cannot forget that Lil and Steph are in a world that they do not belong in, now can we… May be a bit sad if I feel like making it that way…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-gi-oh, but I do, in fact, own Silema and all of the contents of its unpublished (thus far) pages.

Chapter Thirteen: Return to Reality

**I stroked the binding of the novel thoughtfully, trying to sort it all out. Was I actually, seriously falling in love?**

**The phone rang and I jumped slightly. Steph's hand shot out from under the covers and grabbed it.**

"**What?" she snapped into the receiver.**

"**Oh… I see… Really? Yes, we'll be there." Click.**

"**Who was-"**

"**It was Ishizu, Lily. She says that she knows where we're from and how to get us back. We need to meet her at the museum now."**

**In about ten minutes, we were standing in the lobby ataring at Ishizu who had just said that we were in danger of being lost to the world forever.**

"**What do mean we'll become one with this world?"**

"**You will fade into the atmosphere and become spirits much like the yamis of the Millennium items. Only, it will be harder for you to find a vessel, as you weren't plotted into the scheme of this from the start. You could well be lost forever."**

**I stared at her, mouth hanging open. Just as I had started to become happy, they throw this at me. Typical.**

"**But… What about-?"**

"**Lily, your love life is not the problem here; it's your basic existence. He will miss you, I do not doubt, but you will both fall back into what should have been. There is but one way for your love to be, and this is not it. Time will tell what is to become of you."**

**I stared blankly at Ishizu. How had she known? **

"**I knew it! You're in love with Seto! How dare-"**

"**This is not the time for that, Steph. You do not yet know what it is to love, but do not fear, you will. But now, we must return you to your world."**

**I did not want to go, but then, I didn't want to fade into the air either. What would that solve? And besides, it couldn't possibly be good for the environment. **

"**How?"**

"**This will require the power of the Pharaoh and of my brother, and the understanding of the both of you that you must return. I shall contact the magical ones, you must say your good byes and open your hearts. Return here tomorrow by sunset or I cannot help you."**

**The abruptness by which this tragedy had struck was heart shattering. Say goodbye already?**

"**Who should we tell?" I asked Steph, asking for her guidance as if nothing had changed between us.**

"**I can't believe that you would hide this from me! That you would even go near him! You can say your own farewell."**

**She huffed off to goodness knows where and I set off to Joey's house, not knowing what else to do.**

"**Joey? Can I talk to you for a minute please?"**

**He opened the door and I instantly felt foolish. Why had I come here? Perhaps I still had my girlish crush on Joey, because it would always be mine, but that didn't mean he was really all that important.**

"**I… We… are leaving tomorrow. We have to go home, or bad things will happen to us. I just thought that you might want to know and all that. Okay, bye!"**

**I dashed out of the house before Joey's poor mind could register what I had said and began walking slowly to Kaiba's house. He deserved the truth; all of it.**

**He let me in and I wasted no time in telling the story, from the beginning, of how we had gotten here. **

"**So… you're from another world?"**

"**From another plane of existence, yes."**

"**You actually think I would buy that?"**

**I sighed and started rattling off random facts about his life, from the TV show, of course. He stared, and then put his head down.**

"**So then… you just wanted to prove that you could get me to trust you?"**

"**No, Seto… never. I thought… when I got here… I wanted nothing more than to be Joey's girlfriend, but I see that it could never have been. Opposites may attract, but there is a limit. And besides," I sniffed slightly, "I went and… and fell in love with you."**

"**Love? With…me?"**

**I nodded meekly and stood up. "I'll see myself out then. I just had to tell you, before I left."**

"**Wait, Lily." **

**He took my hand and I had no choice but to look at him. "I don't… I don't know what love is, but I feel something very special for you, and I don't want you to go."**

"**I don't belong here. I never did, and clearly I never can. But… just don't forget me. Someday, maybe, you can tell your children a very strange sort of love story."**

**I sighed and hugged my book (the first one, now, of course) to my chest. This was harder than I had thought. **

**Kaiba reached up and pulled off the necklace that he always had around his neck and placed it in my hand. "Take this with you, so you'll know that I… that I'm thinking about you."**

**I nodded sadly and put it around my neck. Maybe this was why I had always seen myself alone. Maybe I would carry this token always and never forget, never heal. **

"**I'm going to miss you, Seto," I whispered, fighting back tears.**

**He looked at me, hesitated, and then kissed me right on the lips. I could hardly believe it, and surely knew not what to say. Instead, I just waved sadly and walked away, not so sure that reality was going to be very kind. **

**As I collected the few things that I needed to take with me to my home, I saw that Steph had already been. I wondered where she was and thought sadly about what life was going to be like now that I had changed so much. There was no denying, now, that I had grown much in my time away. Would my old world have room for me? **

**I lay on a park bench that night, with tears in my eyes. I would have to act as though nothing had changed, when I was now in love. I would have to go on with the charade that I had never been on a date, never been kissed, when all I wanted was to tell everyone. I was no longer the same lonely, shy little girl I had once been. And Steph was no longer my best friend in the whole world. I was lost.**

**I did not sleep that night, for my heart was breaking at what I had, for a short while, finally been able to call my own; happiness and love. And for that short while, I had sacrificed my former self and my best friend. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. **

**And morning came, with the promise of a new place to spend my grieving, and I walked slowly toward the museum, toward the reclaiming of what had once been.**

"**Now that all are present, you must go back, with haste. Have you said goodbye?"**

**We both nodded silently, and stared at Marik. Man, he was very tall and very, very cute in person. Of course, I could not find it in me to care about such things at that moment. **

**The two golden items began to glow, as did their wielders. I gingerly touched the necklace that Kaiba had given me and readied myself to go back.**

**Steph looked like she had swallowed a lemon or two, and I felt that she may have accidentally eaten my heart as well. We were going back.**

**In a flash of light, I was in my own room again, but I was not the same. I felt outcast from the place, as if I did not belong. **

**I soon found out that no one had known me gone and had thought that both Steph and I were still there. How that was, I did not know, nor did I much care. I just ate, and slept and stared out the window.**

**When school came, Drake walked up to me and promptly asked me out, much to my shock and discontent.**

"**You've been… different, lately, Lily, and we're both single, right?"**

**Just looking at him made me sick. "Wrong. I have a boyfriend," I said, brandishing the necklace as proof. "He lives… in another country. But you can keep your grimy hands offa me and go back to your little Brittany. She was good enough before, and she's good enough now."**

**He walked away, and I knew very well that I had take the first step in being a lonely girl. And beneath my foot was nothing but air. I could not return to what I had been, that was for sure. But, on the plus side, my love stories would be much more accurate. And Silema, my debut novel, was to hit the shelves in two months. Maybe I would get a very cute little dog and name it Seto…**

End Note: Well, there it is, the last chapter. I might make a sequel, so keep your eyes open for that. Go on, tell me what you think. I just have to know! Also, if you've got ideas for the sequel, I'm more than willing to hear you out.


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